1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of collaboration, and more particularly to a method of disseminating, acquiring, discovering, and using information about people using people-oriented folksonomies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tagging, as a means of providing metadata about Web-based resources, is standard practice, as is the discovery of resources by that metadata through the use of search engines. More recently, folksonomies have arisen as users have sought to share with others resources that they have discovered to be valuable with respect to a given topic. This has resulted in a whole new paradigm for how users search for information on the Web and represents a powerful shift in perception. Users can now base their assessment of a search result entry's worth based not on what the resource says its content and value are, but instead on how users of that resource feel about its contents and value.
In parallel with the development of resource-based folksonomies, Web users have looked for better ways to form communities. These communities may take many forms, but in most cases, all data associated with a person is generated by the person him or herself. Associations among people are represented typically by simple concepts, such as friendship, or at most by common interests. This has provided to you do this for innovators and researchers to begin thinking of people as resources.
There is a need for a way to form communities, or the like, of people based upon what others say about a person rather than upon what a person says about him or herself.